SunEdison building PV station in Colorado for Xcel Energy

Utility operator Xcel Energy said today that solar energy developer SunEdison will build an 8-megawatt solar power plant in Colorado and sell the electricity to Xcel subsidiary Public Service Co. of Colorado.

The plant will house two solar technologies - photovoltaic and advanced "flat plate" solar panel units. It is expected to be in service by the end of 2007, Xcel said in a release.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The plant, to be built in the San Luis Valley in south central Colorado, will be able to power about 8,000 homes when the panels are generating electricity. Xcel said the plant will produce power by concentrating sunlight into a beam of light 500-times greater than normal light. The beam will then be focused on a solar energy cell to convert the light into electricity and transmit it to a power substation.

Minneapolis-based Xcel has 3.3 million electricity and 1.8 million natural gas customers in eight Western and Midwest states.

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